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Equity in Education: WFISD bilingual programs lambasted in audit

An audit of the Wichita Falls Independent School District’s bilingual education programs identified major inconsistencies in how the programs are being run, finding them to lack uniformity or any clear definition of standards.

Equity in Education: WFISD bilingual programs lambasted in audit

Editor's note: This is the second installment of the Times Record News occasional series, Equity in Education. The series examines disparities in funding, quality of instruction and 0ther matters in the Wichita Falls Independent School District.

An audit of the Wichita Falls Independent School District's bilingual education programs identified major inconsistencies in how the programs are being run, finding them to lack uniformity or any clear definition of standards.

The audit's findings were presented to the WFISD Board of Trustees by an administrator at a Monday meeting. Greta Benavides, the district's foreign language and English-language-learner coordinator, suggested a possible remedy by moving bilingual programs to five elementary and early childhood center 'hubs' instead spreading them across all the district's elementary campuses.

Benavides indicated Lamar, Scotland Park, Southern Hills and Zundy elementary schools, along with Brook Village Early Childhood Center, would be used next year as centralized points of bilingual education. The idea of using a centralized approach to the programs has been floated to trustees before, and it now appears the district will move forward with the plan.

'It was very hard (to educate bilingual students at separate campuses). We have to put them together,' Benavides told trustees.

The campuses scheduled to become bilingual hubs are where the majority of English language learners — students whose native language is not English — are enrolled already. But some of those campuses are plagued by vast disparities in the resources allotted to them by the school district, the Times Record News revealed in a story published in June.

The independent research showed some of the district's English language learners do not receive the full benefit of bilingual programs because of funding shortages. For example, Zundy Elementary, which in 2014-15 had the district's highest number English-language learners, received $32,000 for bilingual programs, while Southern Hills Elementary reeled in $237,000 for its programs.

A WFISD spokeswoman did not offer an explanation of specific funding discrepancies despite repeated inquiries. The disparities also were not addressed at Monday's meeting, though district superintendent Michael Kuhrt said his 'specific concern right now is resources' for the programs.

In 2014-15, the most recent year for which actual school spending data is available, the WFISD allotted $1.2 million for bilingual programs, down from the 2012-13 funding peak of $2.1 million. The district has about 1,000 students who are classified as English language learners, the majority of whom speak Spanish and are of Mexican descent. That number is expected to grow in coming years.

The audit, conducted by El Saber Enterprises, found the district has no 'true' bilingual programs, meaning that WFISD places English language learners in the same classrooms as native English speakers and does not give significant instruction in Spanish. By creating 'hub' campuses, English language learners would be concentrated in the same classrooms, allowing certified bilingual teachers to teach in both Spanish and English — a critical step in making the students proficient in English.

Also identified by the audit was 'a need for a clear understanding of second language acquisition and its effect on instruction.' Auditors reported the school district has 'no uniformity in the implementation of the bilingual or English-as-a-second-language program. (It has) no clear definition or shared vision on what the program should look like or how it should be implemented.'

The school district did not respond to a request Tuesday for a full copy of the El Saber audit.

By almost any testing metric, English language learners in the WFISD are academically behind their English speaking peers in the district and other English language learners statewide. Despite enrollment in programs aimed at achieving English proficiency, only 20 percent of elementary and 25 percent of junior high and high school English language learners are proficient in the language, according to scores on federally mandated tests.

WFISD English language learners also score poorly on state-required tests, data shows. According to statistics submitted by the school district to the Texas Education Agency, fewer than 20 percent of English language learners in the Class of 2014 were deemed ready for college in the subjects of English or mathematics. There were zero English-language learners in that graduating class who were deemed college-ready in both subjects.

In 2014-15, English language learners did especially poorly in fifth grade STAAR science testing, where they had a passing rate of 22 percent, and in the seventh grade writing test, which showed a 15 percent passing rate.

The district currently is involved in the TEA's intervention process due to the poor performance of its English language learners.

Benavides, the WFISD bilingual programs coordinator, has in the past lamented the academic performance of the student demographic. 'There are concerns about the scores,' she said at a January school board work retreat, though she partially defended herself by saying the systems in place to educate bilingual students were inadequate. 'We cannot implement the program properly, so to say the program is not working is not fair.'

On Monday, Benavides hinted that the school district's practice of releasing English language learners from bilingual programs after the third grade may be inherently flawed. Last year, the 53 English language learners enrolled in bilingual programs had dwindled to 32 by the third grade, and by the fourth grade all had been removed from the program, despite research showing the students generally need to be in the programs longer for them to be effective.

'We have an early exit to get (English-language learners) out, but our data shows they're struggling,' Benavides said.

Instead of keeping English language learners in bilingual programs through elementary school — as is generally suggested — the students are being moved in the fourth grade to remedial English-as-a-second-language courses, which do not require educators to teach in a student's native language.

It's possible the problem of students' premature removal from bilingual programs can be corrected by the use of the 'hub' campuses. Pre-kindgarten students identified as English language learners reportedly will be moved from their home campuses to one of the bilingual hubs, while those students who already attend a campus outside the hub likely will not be moved.